Automated Document Processing Systems (ADPSs) provide a complete solution to process Documents and use the data therein. Presently, various systems are available to cater to the needs of the users in this space.
One class of state-of-the-art ADPSs involves placing one or more constraints on the document to be processed. A prior art ADPS, for instance, involves constraining the input Document in terms of its color configuration. Said systems accepts those electronic documents as input which have a specific color depth and resolution (e.g. 200 to 300 DPI). This unique color configuration enables the APDS to capture relevant business data from the electronic documents by applying various color-based analysis techniques such as grayscale coding. Yet another prior art ADPS accepts format-specific structured document such as Negotiable Instruments, Bills & Invoices, Conveyance Documents etc., and captures business relevant data from the said documents. This format consistency in the inputs enables a reader (e.g. OCR Reader) to probe through preset locations/co-ordinates and extract relevant soft data committed therein.
One other class of the state-of-the-art ADPSs involves placing one or more constraints on the manner in which the input document interacts with the ADPS. A prior art ADPS for processing structured documents, for instance, constrains the interaction between said ADPS and the input Document by fixing the ‘input count per cycle’ to 1. Said system accepts only single structured document per process cycle and operates upon it. Therefore, in each process cycle, it fetches a single ‘separate scanned document’ as input, processes said input and extracts business relevant data committed therein.
The aforementioned ADPSs, inter alia, have a disadvantage of yielding the desired results only when one or more constraints or conditions are met. The solution to said disadvantage, therefore, lies in providing a one-stop automation system that would automatically be able to adjust and evolve itself according to the nature of the input document. Inter alia, said system should be able to work effectively, independent of factors such as type of electronic document and the sections therein i.e. structured and unstructured sections, number of structured sections per page of the electronic document, content alignment, extent of overlap between structured and unstructured sections, etc. The instant invention aims at realizing and resolving said disadvantage and providing a solution in the manner indicated.